With the economic downturn hitting men harder than women — 9.8 versus 7.5 percent unemployment — and men comprising most noncustodial parents, many dads are finding themselves struggling to make child support payments that were based on incomes they no longer earn.

In a survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers earlier this year, 39 percent of the members reported an increase in modifications being made to child support payments, and 42 percent cited a rise in the number of changes made to alimony.

“You have all these guys losing their jobs, having to take lower paying jobs or part-time work and they are flooding the courts to get downward modifications,” said Glenn Sacks, executive director of Fathers & Families, which advocates for reform of the family court system. “The courts have improved to a degree, but they move much too slowly.”